The old proverb “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime” rings true for consumers and the release of their health information. With laws like HIPAA and the advent of patient portals, it has never been easier for consu....

One of the Healthy People 2020 objectives from the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion is to improve the health, safety, and well-being of individuals in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) population.1 This population faces health disparities with barriers to healt....

Involving patients in the management of their health (patient engagement) encourages greater patient participation in care. It also increases the integrity of the health information stored by our health systems—patients will be the first to tell you if the information is incorrect. P....

Interoperability and integration within the health IT landscape remain high priorities for providers, patients, and technology firms. Interoperability in health IT holds the promise of more satisfied patients, providers, and health information management (HIM) professionals. But approachi....

It is a dark and stormy night at a mid-sized regional trauma center when an EMS team brings in a 30-year-old man who is suffering from a prescription narcotics overdose. The patient is conscious but disoriented when he arrives on a gurney. When he wakes up, his loved ones, dutifully at his....

The purpose of this toolkit is to provide guidance on the issues and challenges that should be considered when
implementing a patient portal, such as the types of policies and procedures that will need to be put into place, workforce
and consumer education and training, and the legal requirements and considerations that must be accounted for
a successful portal implementation. Sample forms, portal use agreement, and patient portal FAQs are also included.

This article is published in sponsorship with Berkeley Research Group (BRG).

As a recent initiative, a growing number of healthcare organizations are turning to OpenNotes as a strategy for addressing patient engagement shortcomings in the US healthcare system. Originally pion....

Obtaining access to one’s written or electronic medical records in a timely manner is one of the guarantees listed in AHIMA’s “Consumer Health Information Bill of Rights.” Yet, for one consumer, Amanda Michelle Jones, MS, AM, being on a first-name basis with medical records depa....

The conversation in healthcare is shifting from “patient engagement” to “consumerism.” This changing lingo indicates a new mental model—a new approach to thinking about patients as consumers and to delivering a healthcare experience as consumer-centric, just like many other industries. Dra....

Health information management (HIM) professionals are familiar with mobile health (mHealth) technologies from a provider perspective, but technology has provided the ability for healthcare consumers to also utilize mHealth to become more actively engaged in managing their personal healthc....

When Melissa Ziller’s daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes three months before her third birthday, Ziller grappled with all the usual worries that come with the diagnosis. Chief among them was pricking her toddler’s fingers multiple times per day to test her glucose levels. Shortly....

As a nation, the United States has been focused heavily on engaging consumers in their overall health and wellness. This has been propelled by federal initiatives such as the “meaningful use” Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program, mandated clinical quality measures based....

The advancement of technology has changed the practice of medicine. It has evolved the physician-patient relationship from solely a face-to-face interaction into real-time online encounters, from e-mails to virtual appointments. Patient portals represent such a technological advancement, leadi....

Patient-centered healthcare initiatives are underway to enable patients to take more responsibility for their healthcare. To do so, patients must be able to access, utilize, and share their health information. Access to health information through patient portals and other....

Advancement in the practice of medicine has entered its next generation through the launch of new medications, new medical techniques, and most of all new technologies. While many of the advancements impact the provider-patient relationship directly, such as the execution of treatment and....

There’s no doubt that consumers of a certain age take comfort in going to the doctor, agreeing with their diagnosis, and following his or her treatment plan to the letter without doubts or hesitation. But this paternalistic approach to healthcare is starting to erode as younger gener....

For consumers in the United States, the answer to the question “Who are you?” is becoming increasingly important, especially in relation to one’s healthcare. Safe and secure access to a person’s health information hinges on how their online identity is established and used—especially as m....

In this web series, HIM professionals working in emerging roles give advice on tackling difficult HIM problems. This month features the conclusion to a two-part series discussing the unique challenges HIM professionals face in deploying EHRs customized to serve pediatric and adolesce....

Research and release of information (ROI) statistics confirm that more and more patients want access to their information, are requesting health records, and have started organizing their health histories. Trained ROI specialists are in high demand—receiving requests and helping pati....

The healthcare industry has made, and will continue to make, immense advancements with technology and therefore impact the practice of medicine. Consumer-centric healthcare and the way in which providers communicate with patients go hand-in-hand with the use of technology. One concentrate....

This article presents a case study in the redesign, development, and implementation of a web-based healthcare clinic search tool for virtual patient navigation in underserved populations in Texas. It describes the workflow, assessment of system requirements, and design and implementation of two online portals: Project Safety Net and the Breast Health Portal.

When Deborah Kohn recently logged onto her healthcare provider's patient portal to view her X-ray reports, she immediately knew something wasn't quite right. She'd undergone one X-ray of her left hand and another of her right hand. The problem?